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Track: What Really Goes On
Artist: A Tribe Called Quest
Album: Beats, Rhymes & Life

Artist Bio

A Tribe Called Quest Image

Name: A Tribe Called Quest
Spotify Genres: jazz rap, east coast hip hop, hip hop, old school hip hop
Followers: 2,393,719
Popularity:

64/100

Biography

A Tribe Called Quest was a critically acclaimed rap group comprised initially of [a=Q-Tip] (b. Jonathan Davis ― later changed to Kamaal Ibn John Fareed in the mid-1990s upon conversion to Islam ― 10 April 1970, New York, USA), DJ [a=Ali Shaheed Muhammad] (b. 11 August 1970, Brooklyn, New York City, USA), [a=Jarobi] and [a=Phife Dawg] (b. Malik Taylor, 20 November 1970, Brooklyn, New York City, USA; d. 22 March 2016, USA). The group formed in high school in 1988 in Queens, New York City, NY, where they started as part of the Native Tongues Posse, with [a=Queen Latifah], [a=De La Soul], [a=Black Sheep], [a=Monie Love], and the [a=Jungle Brothers], and were given their name by [a=Afrika Baby Bambaataa] of the Jungle Brothers. Following their August 1989 debut, "Description Of A Fool," they had a hit with "Bonita Applebum" a year later, based on a classmate from their school. Their most significant success came the following year with the laid-back "Can I Kick It?" demonstrative of their refined jazz/hip-hop blend. This release earned the first ever "5-star" award from Source Magazine. Q-Tip also appeared on Deee-Lite's August 1990 hit, "Groove Is In The Heart." While their debut, "People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm," was more eclectic and even self-consciously jokey, "The Low-End Theory" (recorded as a trio following the departure of Jarobi) blended boom bap beats with carefully selected jazz, funk, and soul melodies. ATCQ was helped considerably by jazz bass player [a=Ron Carter] (who had worked with [a=Miles Davis] and [a=John Coltrane]). Tracks such as "The Infamous Date Rape" stoked controversy, while samples from [a=Lou Reed], [a=Stevie Wonder], and [a=Earth, Wind & Fire] were used frugally and intelligently. Q-Tip appeared in the 1993 movie "Poetic Justice" opposite [a=Janet Jackson]. ATCQ was awarded the "Group Of The Year" after the release of 1993's "Midnight Marauders" at the inaugural Source Magazine Hip Hop Award Show in 1994 before being moved off stage by the arrival of [a=2Pac] and his Thug Life crew, who were attempting to steal some publicity. It was later determined this was an accident on 2Pac's behalf. In 1996 "Beats, Rhymes And Life" debuted at number 1 on the Billboard album chart with highly evolved lyrics addressing issues with greater clarity than their past recordings. "The Love Movement," which debuted at US number 3 in October 1998, was another mature, stylish collection of material. However, it lacked the spark of their earlier works. ATCQ released "We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service" on November 4, 2016, nearly 18 years after "The Love Movement" album. While recording verses for the album and his solo album, Phife Dawg passed away on March 22, 2016. During its first month of release, "We Got It From Here... Thank You 4 Your Service" was greeted with critical acclaim and fan support. The group has been awarded the Founders Award at the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Awards and was honored at the 4th VH1 Hip-Hop Honors. In 2017, the group was awarded the Brit Award for International Group. In 2024, the group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Source: Discogs

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Release: A Tribe Called Quest - Beats, Rhymes And Life
Year: 1996
Genres: Hip Hop
Styles: Conscious

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Source: MusicBrainz

LYRICS

We got the bump-da-bump-da-bump bump (6X)
We got the bump-da-bump-da-bump bump-da-bump-da-bump
Bump-da-bump-da-bump
Yo, we preparin ourselves for this ultimate war
The MCs are really lost and it's at a big cost
We be rhymin at our show thinkin we gettin dough
Movin throught every town off the fumes of...
And accolades of the crowd with our chests out proud
Yo, we bout to pack these joints so that these...sound loud
Some kids be actin stank like a baby pant
It's the rapper Abstract that make the joint get amped
Yo, use your body maker and use your minds, to break true
Yo, we gotta do the do
Son, we livin in a time where mad folks talk (shit)
Representin they crews or they East-West clicks
Let me tell everybody from coast to coast
About the lands we boast, but we don't own jack
How the (fuck) we movin through makin moves like that?
How the (hell) we movin through makin moves like that?
Can you explain that? I doubt that, very highly
We got jewels and Mo and the life is tight rowdy
Everybody lookin (shitty) like a to' down committee
Let's make these institutions, body slam for the smitties
I got girls with plenty tails, smarts and big (titties)
And they all stressin me, yo, really?
What really goes on? (James Brown: I don't know)

We got the bump-da-bump-da-bump bump (6X)
We got the bump-da-bump-da-bump bump-da-bump-da-bump
Bump-da-bump-da-bump

One is for the beat and the two is for the rhyme
Three is for the life, now we on this incline
Never catch this kid stickin forks in swine
Never ran my gibs in nuthin less than a dime
A few of my brothas did that asshole one time
Strivin miss sunrise, sometimes is known as crime
The three twenty-five got that Windex shine
And when I shot skelly, I had boxes and lines
All I wanna do is live life and be fair
I used to stress girls with long legs and long hair
Now, I want a woman with a spiritual flair
God will never make it too hard for me to bare
I'm hungry like a derelict whose stays in the diluse
Some can count me out, but yo, I doubt that I lose
The Westernized world got our minds confused
You frontin on me, ak, then you don't get bruised
The funny style cats, they be playin games like Chucky
Government officials shoot their same old...
Made of devil agents a.k.a. the devil flunky
Stiff (ass) squares gettin mad cuz we funky
This the crap game, then we got the top rolls
The positive jumps the negative like frogs
Resentin evil vibes, yo, that (shit) is at the morgue
We celebrate laughin down in at the smorgasborg
You still lookin (shitty) like a to' down committee
Let's make this institution, buy the land for the smitties
I got girls with tails, plenty smarts and big (titties)
And they all stressin me...really

We got the bump-da-bump-da-bump bump (6X)
We got the bump-da-bump-da-bump bump-da-bump-da-bump
Bump-da-bump-da-bump